• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.50-59
• /
• 2019

Anti-$M{\ddot{u}}llerian$ hormone (AMH), a peptide growth factor of the transforming growth $factor-{\beta}$ family, is a reliable marker of ovarian reserve. Regarding assisted reproductive technology, AMH has been efficiently used as a marker to predict ovarian response to stimulation. The clinical use of AMH has recently been extended and emphasized. The uses of AMH as a predictive marker of menopause onset, diagnostic tool for polycystic ovary syndrome, and assessment of ovarian function before and after gynecologic surgeries or gonadotoxic agents such as chemotherapy have been investigated. Serum AMH levels can also be affected by environmental and genetic factors; thus, the effects of factors that may alter AMH test results should be considered. This review summarizes the findings of recent studies focusing on the clinical application of AMH and factors that influence the AMH level and opinions on the use of the AMH level to assess the probability of conception before reproductive life planning as a "fertility test."

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.43-48
• /
• 2013

This study aims to investigate changes in plasma lipid concentrations and appetite-regulating hormone levels after a 4% body fat reduction using a 9-week intervention involving aerobic exercise, a fat-oxidizing agent, and diet limitation. After the 9-week intervention, the aerobic exercise plus hydroxycitric acid (EX+HCA), exercise (EX), and diet limitation (DIET) groups achieved the target 4% body fat reduction from the baseline value. None of the plasma lipid indicators showed significant intergroup differences, indicating that plasma lipid levels are not influenced by body weight regulation. With regard to appetite-regulating hormones, no significant intergroup differences were observed in glucose, insulin, or glucagon-like peptide-1 levels, unlike ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin levels in particular tended to decrease in the DIET group and increase in the HCA+EX and EX groups. Leptin levels significantly decreased in the HCA+EX and EX groups, whereas no differences were observed in the DIET group. Such results indicate that exercise alone without the administration of obesity diet supplements induces elevation in ghrelin levels and reduction in leptin levels, but that diet restriction alone does not influence changes in leptin levels. Taken together, we could not confirm any synergic effects arising from the use of a fat-oxidizing agent during an exercise program to control body weight. Furthermore, diet limitation unsupported by exercise had no effect on muscle mass reduction or appetite-regulating hormone levels; thus, it is not recommended as an effective body weight control method.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.180-186
• /
• 2003

The full-length cDNA encoding the pre-protein growth hormone (sfGH) from spotted flounder (Verasper variegatus) was amplified by the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) using degenerated oligonucleotide primers derived from conserved growth hormone sequences. It consists of 901 nucleotides in length, including the coding region of 609 nucleotides, 111 nucleotides of a 5' untranslated region, and 181 nucleotides of a 3' untranslated region. The conserved polyadenylation signal (AATAAA) lies 12 bases upstream from the poly (A) tail. The deduced amino acid sequence shows an open reading frame encoding a pre-protein of 203 amino acids and a putative signal peptide of 17 amino acids, suggesting that the mature hormone consists of 186 amino acids. The analyses of sfGH reveal some unique structural features. The repetitive sequences are located in the 5' untranslated region of sfGH cDNA and consist of tandem arrays of imperfect direct repeat monomers. Moreover, sfGH contains six Cys residues, as opposed to four or five in other GHs, and it is clearly distinguishable from olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) GH, which lacks a region corresponding to residues 175-188 in alignment positions. It has important implications from an evolutionary standpoint, suggesting possible divergence among flatfishes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.168-173
• /
• 2009

Human follicle-stimulating hormone (hFSH) is a pituitary glycoprotein that regulates follicular development and ovulation. Clinically, hFSH has been used to induce follicular growth in infertile women. The hormone is composed of heterodimers, including a common ${\alpha}$ subunit among the gonadotropin family and a hormone-specific ${\beta}$ subunit. Since assembly of the heterodimer is a rate-limiting step in the production of functional hFSH, transgenic clone cows carrying a single-chain hFSH transgene may efficiently produce functional hormone. Genes encoding the ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ subunits of hFSH were linked using the C-terminal peptide sequence from the ${\beta}$ subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin. Bovine fetal fibroblasts were transfected with the gene construct, including the goat ${\beta}$-casein promoter and a single-chain hFSH coding sequence. Transfected fibroblasts were transferred into enucleated oocytes, and individual nuclear transfer (NT) embryos developed to the blastocyst stage were analyzed for the transgene by polymerase chain reaction. Seventy eight blastocysts (30.8%) were developed from 259 reconstructed embryos. Among these blastocysts, the hFSH gene was detected in 70.8% (34/48) of the embryos. Subsequent transfer of hFSH-transgenic clone embryos to 31 recipients results in 11 (35.5%) early pregnancies. However, all fetuses were lost before reaching day 180 of gestation. The results from this study demonstrated that bovine NT embryos carrying single-chain hFSH could be produced, and further extensive studies in which NT embryos are transferred to more recipients may give rise to single chain hFSH-transgenic cows for biomedical applications.

• The Microorganisms and Industry
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.42-45
• /
• 1994

아미노산은 식품이나 사료의 첨가물로, 의약품으로 그리고 화학합성에 있어서의 단위구조체(building block)로써 널리 이용되어 왔는데, 위에서 광학적으로 순수한 single enantiomer로서 D- 혹은 L-form의 .alpha.-아미노산은 의약품의 합성에 있어서 그 산업적 중요성이 날로 증대되고 있다. 이중 D-form의 아미노산은 .betha.-lactam계 항생제, peptide hormone, 살충제 등의 합성에서 중간 물질로 사용되고 있는데, 특히 D-p-hydroxyphenylglycine(이하 D-HPG)의 경우 amoxicillin, cefadroxil, cefatrizine, cefaparole, cefaperazone등의 penicillin이나 cephalosporin계의 반합성항생제의 전구체로서 전 세계적으로 널리 사용되고 있다.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.237-242
• /
• 2000

Growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), the major hypothalamic stimulus of GH secretion from the anterior pituitary gland, has been found to be present in several extrahypothalamic sites including placenta testis, ovary and anterior pituitary gland. The present study was performed to elucidate the role of pituitary GHRH on proliferation of cells derived from rat anterior pituitary gland. The GHRH content of pituitary tissue, cultured pituitary cells, and the conditioned media was evaluated by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Primary cultures of pituitary cells derived from adult rats were prepared by enzymatic dispersion. Significant amounts of GHRH-like molecules were detected in both pituitary tissue and cell cultures by GHRH RIA. Competition curves with increasing amounts of tissue extracts and conditioned media were parallel with those of standard peptide, indicating that the pituitary GHRH-like material is similar to authentic GHRH. To analyze specific cell types responsible for producing GHRH in anteroior pituitary, cell fractionation technique combined with GHRH RIA was performed. In cell fractionation experiment, the highest level of GHRH content was found in gonadotrope enriched-fraction and followed by somatotrope-, lactotrope- and thyrotrope-fraction. Treatment of pituitary cells with GHRH resulted in a dose-dependent increase in [$^3$H] thymidine incorporation. The mitogenic effect of GHRH could be mediated by typical oncogenic activation since the GHRH induced transient increase in c-fos mRNA levels with peak response at 30 minutes. The present study demonstrated that i) the pituitary GHRH expressed in the rat anterior pituitary gland can be secreted, ii) among the various cell types, gonadotropes and somatotorpes are the major GHRH source, and iii) the GHRH treatment increased the [$^3$H] thymidine incorporation and c-fos transcriptional activity in the pituitary cell culture. These findings suggested that GHRH could participated in the paracrine and/or autocrine regulation of cell proliferation, as well as promoting growth hormone secretion.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2001

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) has been known to play a role in the regulation of hCG secretion by human placenta. Recently, a gene encoding the second f개m of GnRH (GnRH-II) was identified in human. Herein, we demonstrate that GnRH-II is expressed in human placenta and assess GnRH-II expression by nested RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in human placenta during the first trimester. We found that two altematively spliced transcripts of GnW-II mRNA were expressed in human placental tissues of first trimester and the shorter variant had a 21-bp deletion in GnRH-associated peptide (GAP). Immunoreactive GnRH-II was localized in both cytotrophoblastic and syncytiotrophoblastic cytoplasm. The immunostaining intensity was stronger in cytotrophoblast. Villous stromal cells also showed GnRH-II immunoreactiyiry. The results of our study report that the second isoform of GnRH (GnRH-II) is expressed in the first trimester human placenta and we suggest that GnRH-II may also play a regulatory role in maintenance of early pregnancy and hCG secretion in human placenta.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.51-66
• /
• 1989

Mammalian cardiocytes secrete atrial natriuretic peptides (ANPs) into plasma, which cause marked natriuresis, diuresis, vasorelaxation and inhibition of hormone secretions. Aging influences the ability of the kidney both to conserve and to excrete sodium; i.e., in old animals, the excretory capacity of sodium is reduced and the time required to excrete sodium load is prolonged. Therefore, it is possible that animals differing in ages may respond differently to ANP. In the present study, we determined whether the renal, hormonal and vascular effects of ANP may be influenced by aging in conscious rabbits. The plasma renin concentration decreased with aging but plasma ANP concentration was significantly lower only in 24-month-old rabbits. Plasma aldosterone concentration and atrial ANP content did not change by aging. In 1-month-old rabbits, ANP (atriopeptin III, 3 ug/kg) administered intravenously caused hypotension and decreased in plasma renin and aldosterone concentrations, but did not cause diuresis and natriuresis. In 2 to 5 month-old rabbits, ANP caused hypotension, decreases in Plasma renin and aldosterone concentrations and marked renal effects. However, in 24-month-old rabbits, all the above effects of ANP was blunted. With hydration of physiological saline at a rate of 15 ml/kg/h for 2hr, urine volume and glomerular filtration rate did not change but the electrolyte excretion as well as fractional excretion of sodium significantly increased. The plasma concentrations of active renin and aldosterone were decreased but plasma inactive renin and ANP concentrations were increased. The changes in renal function and plasma level of hormone showed no differences in different ages. These results suggest that the peripheral vascular receptors to ANP may develop earlier than those in the kidney, and the attenuated vascular and renal responses to ANP in the old age may be due to age-related modifications in renal function and blood vessel.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.158-163
• /
• 2004

Chlorella is a eukaryotic microalgae which shares metabolic pathways with higher plants. These charac-teristics make chlorella a potential candidate for eukaryotic overexpression systems. Recently, a foreign flounder growth hormone gene was stably introduced and expressed in transformed Chlorella ellipsoidea by using a modified plant transformation vector that contains cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S pro-moter and the phleomycin resistant Sh ble gene as a selection marker. In this study, this same vector was modified by incorporating a promoter and a 3' UTR region of the 33kDa peptide gene from a chlorella virus that was isolated in our laboratory. The 33kDa gene promoter was used to replace the 35S promoter and the 3' UTR was introduced to separate the target gene and downstream Sh ble gene. Three different chlorella transformation vectors containing human erythropoietin (EPO) gene were constructed. The mp335EPO vector consists of a promoter from the 33kDa peptide gene, whereas the mp3353EPO vector contains the same promoter from the 33kDa peptide gene and its 3' UTR. The mp35S33pEPO vector contains the 35S promoter and the 3' UTR from the 33 kDa peptide gene. There was no significant difference in the expression levels of EPO protein in chlorella cells transformed with either of three of the transformation vectors. These data indicate that the promoters from the chlorella virus are comparable to the most common CaMV 35S promoter. Furthermore, these data suggest that other promoters from this virus can be used in future construction of chlorella transformation system for higher expression of target proteins.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2021

BACKGROUND: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are widely distributed in various organisms. Insect GPCRs shown as in vertebrate GPCRs are membrane receptors that coordinate or involve in various physiological processes such as learning/memory, development, locomotion, circadian rhythm, reproduction, etc. This study aimed to identify GPCRs expressed in fat body and compare the expression pattern of GPCRs in different temperature conditions. METHODS AND RESULTS: To identify GPCRs genes and compare their expression in different temperature conditions, total RNAs of fat body in Plutella xylostella larva were extracted and the transcriptomes have been analyzed via next generation sequencing method. From the fat body transcriptomes, genes that belong to GPCR Family A, B, and F were identified such as opsin, gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor, neuropeptide F (NPF) receptor, muthuselah (Mth), diuretic hormone receptor, frizzled, etc. Under low temperature, expressions of GPCRs such as C-C chemokine receptor (CCR), opsin, prolactin-releasing peptide receptor, substance K receptor, Mth-like receptor, diuretic hormone receptor, frizzled and stan were higher than those at 25℃. They are involved in immunity, feeding, movement, odorant recognition, diuresis, and development. In contrast to the control (25℃), at high temperature GPCRs including CCR, gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor, moody, NPF receptor, neuropeptide B1 receptor, frizzled and stan revealed higher expression whose biological functions are related to immunity, blood-brain barrier formation, feeding, learning, and reproduction. CONCLUSION: Transcriptome of fat body can provide understanding the pools of GPCRs. Identifications of fat body GPCRs may contribute to develop new targets for the control of insect pests.